Sometimes we just want to connect to someone, reach out and touch them. We are so afraid of being rejected, though, of making someone scared of us. We crawl back into our hiding places and lay low. Tonight I pull out The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame, one of my favorite books. It’s about reaching out in your isolation. And I give it a good read out loud—not trying to pressure him, but give him the space and comfort of a voice to know I’m here, and I’m not afraid of him. No one should be afraid to reach out when they are lonely. And slowly, as I read about Mole and Rat and Badger who meet and become friends, that hand that just wanted to say, I am here, I am always here, stays on my arm till I finish a chapter and then slips back down as I turn off the light.
Bear Witness 